Operation Relative Survival
by brandtfan
Summary: Steve McGarrett has fought against elite militia, and taken down international war criminals. But can he handle the mission er, evening presented to him as a favour by his 'old friend' Catherine Rollins? No amount of intense Navy SEAL training can help him when he's surrounded by her very curious family! I had a little fun with the beginning of this one. All is not as it seems..
1. Chapter 1

**Just a little short that came to me a few days ago. I had a lot of fun writing this one, so hopefully you will like it too and let me know :) **

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"So by the power vested in me, by the state of Hawaii, I now pronounce you husband and wife." The minister declared, and everyone clapped and cheered as the happy couple stood there hand in hand. "You may kiss your bride." He finished.

Steve couldn't help but smile at her. She was standing there with the sun kissing her skin perfectly. Not to mention the beautiful dress, and that she was beaming from ear to ear. It also made him wonder, though. He really didn't know what he was getting himself into, and that scared him. Steve didn't realize just how lost in his own thoughts he'd been until he felt an elbow nudge him. "Well, what are you waiting for?" the older man beside him asked. "When are you going to do it?" he asked, while the usually composed Navy man felt his very sweaty palms. Steve smiled awkwardly at the man, before turning back to the scene before him. The happy couple shared their first kiss as husband and wife, and began the recessional down the carpet laid out on the sand.

After the beautiful ceremony on the beach, all of the guests had gathered for the real party; the reception. "Cath," Steve delicately placed a hand on the small of her back as he approached her at the table. "You look..." he shook his head, realizing he wouldn't be able to find enough words to do her justice, once again as he sat down beside her.

She smiled and let out a little chuckle. "Well, thank you. But I can't take credit it for it." She smiled as she motioned to another table across the room. "I wasn't sure I liked the backless dress idea, but Stacey talked me into it."

"Hmm." Steve replied, inconspicuously letting that hand tickle across the bare skin of her back. "Remind me to thank her later." He whispered close to her ear, with a look in his eye that could really only mean one thing.

Catherine felt her body involuntarily shudder with his touch. Seeing him dressed in full uniform was enough to make her body tick with excitement, but feeling his touch brought it to another level. But as much as she wanted to escape the busy room and go somewhere where he could tickle his hands all over her body, she knew they couldn't do that. "Steve.." she carefully scanned the room to see if anyone was watching them. The whole evening, she couldn't shake the feeling that there were eyes on her somewhere. Of course, they were in a room with most of her family, so of course they would be watching her every move. "We can't," she looked at him with a sense of necessity.

He put his head down, reminding himself of where he was. "You're right." He nodded. "But it isn't easy, not picking you up right here, and whisking you off to a room upstairs," he started, letting out a little smirk. "Not laying you down on the bed, and-"

"Dad!" Catherine greeted, as he caught her off guard. She simultaneously sent Steve a kick under the table to draw his attention to the intimidating man approaching their table. She then stood up to give her father a hug.

"Commander McGarrett." The man dressed in full Naval uniform greeted him.

"Sir," Steve nodded. "It's good to see you again." Steve could already feel the tension between them.

"Mmm." The man replied, clearly not overly impressed by the man with his daughter. Of course, it wouldn't matter who she was with; they wouldn't be good enough for his oldest daughter.

"Catherine, your sister wants you to take some photographs with her and your mother." He motioned towards the doors that lead out on to the beach.

"More pictures?" she asked, feeling like the hundred or so they'd already taken was more than enough. She then looked at Steve, realizing she'd be leaving him alone with her family. He silently nodded to let her know it was alright.

Reluctantly, Catherine got up and followed her father out on to the lanai that was also serving as the dance floor for the evening.

A few minutes and a drink refill later, Steve was sitting, waiting patiently for Catherine to return. "Hey there sailor," he heard a sweet voice say from behind him.

"Finally," he replied, relieved. "I managed to avoid that aunt you warned me about, and you-" he turned around and almost jumped, "are not who I thought you were." He could feel his eyes getting bigger, looking at the woman who struck a pretty strong resemblance to Cath.

She planted herself in the seat next to him. "No, but I could be.." she trailed off, leaning forward and giving him a look that made him feel very uncomfortable.

"Uh," he cleared his throat and pushed his chair back a little bit. "I'm uh, flattered, but I'm-"

"With perfect little Catherine," she rolled her eyes, crossed her arms and leaned back in the seat. "Duh, we can all see that." She continued. "Ever since we were kids, she always beat me to everything."

"Well, that's not what I meant, I uh, it's not-" he stammered away, uncharacteristically.

She shook her head and downed the rest of her drink. "Too bad," she stood up, "because you don't know what you're missing." She turned on her heel and waded her way towards the bar.

Steve let out a sigh of relief, and then sent a silent prayer as he spotted Catherine getting closer to him a minute later. "Hey," she said as she sat down. "I'm sorry about that," she apologized. "You didn't get too bombarded by my family, did you?" she asked, concerned. "Did you manage to avoid Aunt Rose?" she added, with a small chuckle.

"Um, well I didn't see Aunt Rose, no," he shook his head, laughing a little himself. "But I did have an awkward conversation with someone who looks _a lot _like you." He finished, looking towards the bar.

Catherine gave him a quizzical look, and then followed his eyes to the bar. "Ohh," she laughed some more, and then looked down at the empty glass sitting in front of her. "I should've guessed. You met Cousin Lucy." She continued to laugh as she looked at Steve.

"Yeah, so it appears." He agreed, still trying to shake off the awkwardness. "Is there anyone else in your family that's here tonight that I should know about, you know, to avoid?" He asked, half teasing, half serious.

"Um," she started, pretending to look around the room. "Have you met Uncle Dean?" she pointed discreetly to a man sitting a few tables away.

Steve recognized him as the man who'd been sitting next to him and prodded him about getting married during the ceremony. "Uh, yeah." he nodded. "He asked me when I..." suddenly realizing he was about to say the word married, Steve quickly searched his brain for another thing to say. "Uhm, anyway who else should I avoid?" he _really _hoped Catherine hadn't caught his little slip. They had never even discussed whether or not they were a couple, so even using the word in another context scared him.

"You know, if I were you," she replied, trying her hardest to act as if she hadn't heard him almost say the 'm' word. "I'd just avoid all of them, and you won't have to worry about fielding any questions, or advances." She gestured with her eyes back to the bar where her cousin was still standing.

Steve let out a chuckle once again. "Good to know." He nodded.

"Seriously though," Catherine discreetly put her hand on his thigh close to his knee. "I really appreciate this, Steve." She smiled. "I know it's not easy, dealing with all this stuff, but I'm really glad we're here."

"Well," he started with a sly grin, "it was an easy decision. Getting to repay all those favours you've done for me, _while _getting to see you in that incredible dress? That was a no brainer." He put his hand over hers on his leg.

"Oh, that's very deep and selfless of you." She teased, while he continued to beam at her.

"Little Cathie! There you are!" She heard the unmistakable voice and shot Steve a look that clearly told him to run. He was just bringing his second leg out from under the table when the man spoke to him. "Oh no, you don't get away from me that easily, young man!" The older man with cheeks redder than the bridesmaid's dresses laughed with his full, large belly. "You're not getting away without telling me all about yourself. You must be pretty special to get in my niece's good books, I'll tell you that much!" the man just kept talking.

"Uh…" Steve tried to make an excuse as to why he had to leave, but it was clear the man was going to make even more of a scene if he did that, so he very reluctantly sat back down.

Cath leaned over to him very quickly. "Meet Aunt Rose's drunk better half." She whispered, prompting Steve to let out a laugh.

"What's that there, sailor man?" the man said, very loudly. "How did you meet our little Cathie here, anyway?" he asked, patting his sister's oldest daughter on the back.

"Uh, we, we worked Naval Intelligence together some years ago and uhm, our paths crossed here and there after that." He replied, thinking he'd rather be talking to Cousin Lucy right about now.

"Well, ain't that sweet!" The man said, moving to slap Steve on the shoulder now. "Well I hope you two kids work out, she deserves the very best." He gave her shoulders a little shake from behind.

"Uncle Henry," Catherine was quick to respond, "We're uh," she looked at Steve, wanting to be so careful not to say the wrong thing. "Well, there's um,"

"Thank you sir," Steve stood up and shook her uncle's hand. "And it's nice to meet you, Henry." He smiled, looking between Catherine and her uncle. He was hoping the man would be content to walk away then, but no such luck.

"Right back atcha, son. I didn't catch your name though," he commented, still very loudly.

"Uh, McGarrett, sir. Steve McGarrett." He stated. He quickly glanced at Catherine, who looked like she too would rather be anywhere else than here having this conversation. _At least she can sit there and drink right now,_ he thought to himself as she brought her glass to her lips.

"Oh please, I don't see a sir here now, Steve. Just call me Uncle Henry, for Pete's sake! We're all family here now!"

With that, Catherine's drink came splashing out of her mouth. "Oh, my lordy, are you alright, darlin'?!" her uncle asked her.

She was quick to answer, before he could continue. "I'm fine Uncle Henry, I just, drank too fast." She said, trying to cover up the real reason she spit it out. "Steve," she turned to him quickly, "we should go uh…"

"Oh," he picked up on her silent, albeit desperate cues. "Yeah," he said, as he pulled her chair out for her. "Sorry, um, Uncle Henry, but we need to go check something outside," he tried desperately to get them out of the increasingly uncomfortable scene with her increasingly drunk uncle.

He looked a little confused at first, and then suddenly his face lit up. "Oh wowee," he nudged Steve's arm. "You kids have fun now." He said as he waved them off.

"Oh God," Catherine put her head in her hands as they rounded the corner out of the main reception area into a hallway a few seconds later. "Steve, I am so sorry you had to do that." She shook her head, letting out a little giggle.

"It's okay," he grasped her bicep. "But I think it means you owe me again." A sneaky grin snuck up the sides of his mouth as he quickly looked to see if anyone was around them before leaning in to kiss her. "Who's little Cathie, by the way?" his smirk was as wide as Uncle Henry's waistline.

"A nickname from when I was a kid that some of my relatives refused to let go," she said, before her face got serious. "And Steve, I know you and nicknames. If you ever call me that, I'm telling you now that there won't be anymore nights playing trapped in a foxhole, alright?" she softened her look a little as she finished her warning.

"No worries," he replied, smiling. "That's what I have Danno for." Suddenly his smile turned to a very horrified look."The nickname, I meant, uh, not the trapped in a foxhole thing." He shook his head pretty strongly. "I definitely never want to be trapped in a foxhole, of any kind with Danny." he shook his head again, silently cursing himself for sounding like a blubbering fool all of a sudden. It didn't take him long to recover, though. "You, on the other hand," he discreetly slipped his hand behind her head to guide her into a kiss. "I would love to be trapped with, right now as a matter of fact." As he finished his sentence he leaned in for the kiss.

"Mmm" She enjoyed it for a few seconds but then pulled back. "Steve, as if Uncle Henry wasn't bad enough," she shook her head. "Trust me; you do not want to be fielding questions and everything else about us from the rest of my family tonight.

"I don't know, Cath." He smiled, reaching around his hand around her waist. "Pretending to be your boyfriend to keep your family off your back at your sister's wedding has turned out to be kind of fun." He quickly gave her another little kiss on the lips.

Catherine let out a little laugh. "I'm glad you're having fun, but it's me who has to answer the million and one questions from my mother, remember." She gave him a little jab on the arm.

"True," he agreed. "So why don't we go dance? She can't be guilt tripping you about how your younger sister is now married and you aren't yet if we're dancing, right?" he smiled.

Catherine was silent for a minute, trying to process exactly what was going on. She knew asking Steve to go with her to her sister's wedding was a little risky because it clearly came with the 'relationship' undertones. But to her surprise, he seemed to be going with the flow fairly well. Maybe _too __well,_ she thought. At the moment though, she was willing to live with that if it meant she was going to be protected from her mother's persistent comments about not being settled down yet.

"Cath?" Steve waved his hand in front of her face for a second.

"Yeah," she brought herself out of her thoughts. "Sorry." She looked up at him.

"Should we dance?" he asked again.

"I didn't think you were a dancer," she replied, giving him a curious look.

"I'm not," he replied coyly, "but I think your boyfriend is and I mean, we want to keep up appearances, right? We wouldn't want anyone to get suspicious, would we?"

Catherine laughed, and decided dancing sounded really great. "Let's go." She stated with a smile.

Out on the dance floor, Cath could feel a handful of her relatives watching them. Truthfully though, it didn't bother her. She knew they'd be content seeing her with a dashing man's arms around her, and she was certainly content in the moment herself, so she allowed herself to ignore them while they danced.

"So why did Stacey decide to get married all the way out here, anyway?" he asked as another ballad started.

"Because Hawaii is the trendy place to get married, I guess." She tried to sound nonchalant, hoping he'd buy that answer.

"Hmm." Steve replied. "So it has nothing to do with the fact that you're stationed here now, and wouldn't be able to be a part of it if she didn't have it here?"

Catherine blushed a little bit. "Okay, truth." She conceded. "Yes, I did tell Stacey that the only way I could see her get married, let alone be a bridesmaid, was if she got married in Hawaii."

Steve chuckled a little when she said that.

"Why is that funny?" she asked, looking up at him as they swayed together. "I think it's incredibly sweet for her to do that, just for me." She pointed out.

"It is incredibly sweet, it shows how much you mean to her, and how much your sister loves you." He agreed. "I'm laughing because I just thought of something."

"Okay," she replied cautiously. "Steve, I gotta say, it freaks me that we're talking about this stuff and you say something like that." Just being there like that was forcing each of them to think about whatever it was that they had together, so the last thing she wanted was to have him get ideas like that.

He smiled down at her, thinking about how cute she was when she had that look of irrational fear on her face. "I was thinking about," he paused for dramatic effect and so he could lean much closer to her ear to whisper. "How I get to take a bridesmaid home after this wedding." He didn't even try to conceal the very large grin that had covered his face.

Catherine couldn't conceal her expressions, either. "Steve…" she was going to try stopping him, but really she was just as happy thinking about it too.

"And then unzipping this soft, red dress that hugs you in _all _the right places," he shook his head, really emphasizing his point.

"Steve," she said again, seeing her mother through the crowd. "Let's go back to the hallway for a minute," she really didn't give him a chance to understand what was happening before she pulled him off the dance floor.

"The coat closet?" he asked, using his eyebrows. He was mostly joking as they got the place they had been standing before going to dance.

"No, my mother looked like she was heading for us," she explained.

"Oh. Good eye, lieutenant." He smiled, sneaking in to steal one more kiss. "So, when can we get out of here, anyway?" he asked because he was still thinking about unzipping that dress.

She recognized the look in his eyes, which meant she knew what his motive for asking was. "Easy there, sailor." She patted his chest. "We still have a while to go. But hopefully we can continue avoiding the members of my family who are just crazy." She joked.

"Catherine, honey." A woman approached them, smiling. "What on earth are you doing out here? You should be mingling, dear." And introducing everyone to this mystery man you've brought with you would be a good place to start I should think."

"Mom," she let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in. "Uh, you met Steve before the ceremony." She replied, rather shortly.

"Of course I did." She replied, giving Steve a look that he couldn't quite figure out how to take. "But you need to introduce him to everyone else, too. After all, we only see you once a year, so we all need to be caught up on whatever might be going on in your world." She gave Steve another look he really wasn't comfortable with.

"Sure, Mom." She knew the easiest way to get her mother off her back was to just agree. "We'll go mingle now, see you later." She grabbed Steve's arm as he politely smiled at the older woman.

"Uh, what was that?" he asked, as they sat back down at the table they'd eaten at.

"That," Catherine replied without missing a beat, "is a big part of the reason I took the permanent position based at Pearl."

"Huh." Steve gave her an intrigued look. "And here I thought it was because you wanted to see me more."

She laughed at that, even though there was some truth in his statement. "Oh," she looked over to the little stage area where the DJ was set up. It looks like Stacey's about to take the mike. Let's go outside." He agreed and they headed out to the lanai.

A few minutes later, Steve found himself alone once again, due to Catherine using the restroom. "So, Mr. Bad ass Navy SEAL," Steve heard from behind him. He turned around to see the bride standing in front of him with two drinks. "What's been worse, chasing down armed and dangerous war criminals, or being forced to talk to some of our relatives?" He smiled and let out a little chuckle. She held out one of the glasses. "Here, this usually helps." Steve smiled and took the glass from her. "And don't worry," she continued. "I'm not Lucy." He laughed, relieved as they sat down in chairs beside the dance floor.

"Congratulations," he gestured around him. "It's a beautiful wedding."

"Well, it's pretty impossible to go wrong when Hawaii is your background." She shrugged her shoulders. "Have you lived here long?" she asked.

Steve wasn't sure if it was just an innocent question, or if she was trying to grill him for information about himself. "I grew up here, actually." He explained. "Then I was away for a long time, but I've been back for a few years now." Suddenly Steve realized that Stacey had referred to him as a SEAL, and as far as he could remember, Catherine had never once mentioned that fact to any of her family.

"Oh, wow. Growing up here; that must have been amazing." She commented. "I can't imagine why anyone would want to leave paradise. Why did you leave?"

"Uh, it was a, well I was…"Steve fidgeted, unprepared for that question.

"Steve, I see you've gotten a chance to chat with my sister, the interrogator." Catherine shot her sister a bit of a teasing look as she walked up to them. "Has she asked for a blood sample yet?"

Stacey played along. "Not yet, I was going to get him a little drunk first, you know, so he didn't realize I was sticking a needle into his arm." She gave him a little jab in the bicep. "I just have to make sure my big sister is in good hands, that's all." She shrugged as she stood up. "Save me a dance later, sailor." She winked as she turned around and walked away.

"Careful," Catherine said as she sat back down in her seat. "She might pat you down if you dance with her." She smiled, thinking about how much her sister liked to act as her protector.

"You know, all these jokes you're cracking about your family, I'm starting to think they're not really jokes, more like warnings." He smiled, chuckling.

"Well I'd be lying if I said they haven't scared a few people off over the years." She teased, curious about his reaction to her implying her family has met other 'boyfriends' of hers.

"I'm not afraid of a little competition," he shrugged. "But in case any of them are here, watching us…" he leaned over and gave her a very soft, but sensual kiss on the cheek.

"Awww, would you look at them!" A woman's voice squeeled. Catherine looked up to see yet another set of relatives in front of them.

"Oh, Aunt Iris, Uncle Charlie," she stood up and gave each of them a hug. "This is Steve." She motioned towards the man who had just stood up himself.

"A Navy man," the older man looked Steve up and down, "I like him already, Catherine."

"Thank you, sir." Steve replied, shaking the man's hand. He couldn't help thinking this was a member of her family that he could see himself getting along with.

"Marine corps myself, served for twelve years." The man replied. "It was some of the best years of my life. Well, before I met the little lady here, anyway." The man chuckled. "Let me tell ya Steve," he gestured towards Catherine who was busy chatting with her aunt. "When you find the right one, it changes everything you thought you knew about yourself."

So much for finding a relative of Cath's who didn't make him feel uncomfortable, Steve thought. "Well, I uh, I'm,"

"Oh, Uncle Charlie, I think I just saw them put out another pupu platter at the buffet table," Catherine pointed to the corner of the room with the tables.

"Oh, you know how I love the Hawaiian food!" He laughed and gave his niece a quick peck on the cheek before him and his wife headed for the table.

Steve shook his head in disbelief. "I've got to hand it to you Cath, you've saved my butt more times than I can count tonight." He smiled. "How'd you get so good at this?"

"Well," she started, "I've had a lifetime of practice, so that helps." They both laughed. Catherine heard her sister's voice on the microphone from the lanai. "Let's go outside again," she gestured towards the doors.

As it turned out, Stacey was asking all couples to join her and her new husband for a slow dance. So Steve and Catherine complied, wrapping their arms around each other as they swayed and moved slowly with the music.

Steve couldn't stop himself from looking at the beautiful woman he was dancing with.

"Are you okay?" she asked, after catching him staring at her for the third time in a minute or so. "Don't tell me you're thinking," she leaned in closer so she could whisper, "about unzipping my dress, again?"

"Well, I am now." Steve laughed. "But no. I was thinking about how much fun I'm actually having." Even with some of the antics of her family, he truly was enjoying himself.

"Okay, if you're saying you're having fun with my family, I know you've had way too much to drink, so I need to cut you off." She teased.

"I'm serious, Cath." He laughed again. "This isn't as …" he trailed off, realizing he didn't really have a word to finish that sentence that wouldn't sound offensive in some way.

"Oh, isn't as what?" she continued to tease him, knowing he enjoyed every second of it. "As bad, as torturous, as boring as you thought it would be?"

"And you truly are stunning in that dress, by the way." He quickly changed the subject with a flashy grin. Catherine just laughed. She was having a good time also, and for her, saying she was enjoying it more than she thought she would was a huge understatement. She didn't want to let herself think about the fact that it was because she was there with Steve, though.

When the song finished, Steve excused himself for a minute. It gave Catherine the opportunity to sneak over to the DJ and request a song. On her way back to where they were standing, she met up with her sister. "Cath, where is that super sexy man candy boyfriend you brought?" she asked, eyes wide as can be.

"Stace, I know we're keeping up appearances to humour mom and dad and our extended family, but I told you earlier, Steve's not-"

"Not your boyfriend," Her sister finished for her. "Yeah, yeah. You haven't stopped kidding yourself yet I see." She didn't give her older sister a chance to respond before continuing. "Wake up and smell the pineapple, sis. You're here together, you guys are _obviously _sleeping together,"

"Stacey! Shh!" Catherine tried quieting her sister down. A task that had never proven to be easy, she remembered.

Stacey shrugged, standing up because she spotted her new husband motioning for her to go over to him. "Whatever, it's your life I guess. I'm just saying, it's also very obvious you really like each other, so why not go with it?"

Catherine had never been gladder to see Steve walking towards her at that moment. And that was saying a lot, considering she'd gone through months at a time not seeing him. Stacey left for her new husband, and Cath managed to stall Steve by the dance floor for the few minutes until her choice started playing. Hearing the heavy rock beat, Steve looked up to the DJ, surprised. "Hmm. I didn't expect to hear an 80s hair band at a wedding reception." He commented. "Because a beautiful woman once told me that this kind of music wasn't romantic."

"Well, she sounds like a very smart woman." Cath laughed as she took his hand and brought him back out the dance floor. "But, I have a feeling that her _boyfriend _would disagree." She gave a smirk as they started dancing.

"Oh, I see now." He shook his head, surprised and at the same time very appreciative of her gesture. "Well, then that boyfriend may just have to do this," he said, as he leaned down and planted a pretty deep kiss on her lips, while his hand simultaneously tickled around her bare back and ever so slightly slipped under the fabric.

When their faces parted, Catherine looked around to see if anyone had noticed. She was surprised, though, to see that most of the dance floor and the seating areas had cleaned out. She spotted her parents, and her sister and new brother in law, but past that, it was mostly people she recognized as friends of the couple.

"Steve," she almost whispered a minute later. "One quick visit with my parents and my sister to say bye, and we can leave." She knew saying that would motivate him easily.

"Let's split up, you find your parents, and I'll give Stacey and Ed our congrats again."

She laughed as she saw his face go complete man in action. "Um, no, that won't work." She shook her head, laughing. "Look, there's Stacey and Ed. "Let's go to them first." they walked towards the newlyweds. They chatted with her sister and husband for a few minutes, and the scanned the room for her parents. As soon as he spotted the Rollins, Steve walked briskly over to them, a good pace or two ahead of Catherine. The man was nothing if not determined.

"Mom, Dad," Catherine started as they got to her parents. "Uh, Steve has an early meeting tomorrow, so we're going to call it a night." she explained.

"Well, that's a shame." Her mother replied. Even though he was looking at Mrs. Rollins, Steve could feel her father's eyes on him like a laser. "Catherine, that doesn't mean you have to leave, does it?" she asked, bluntly.

"Yeah, unfortunately. I have a meeting too, um, it's the same meeting, actually. I'm assisting Five 0 with a case, so, I have to be there too." She lied through her teeth.

Her father let out an audible grunt. It was pretty clear he'd seen through their excuse.

"Oh, Thomas." His wife shook her head. "Let her be. She has a boyfriend, let's not discourage it, okay?" she tried to say it out of the corner of her mouth, but both Steve and Catherine heard her clearly.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow afternoon before you leave, anyway, right?" she asked, wanting get as far away from the topic of her evening plans as possible when talking to her parents. She also wanted to confirm their late lunch plans for the next day.

"Of course, sweetie. We can't wait to hear more about you two crazy kids together." She added, smiling.

"Oh, Mrs. Rollins, I actually don't think I'll be able to make it, uh, this case we're on, it's-"

"Oh, nonsense." The woman almost rolled her eyes. "You are meeting us for a late lunch at the Hilton, and that's that." She leaned in to give her daughter a quick peck on the cheek before turning on her heel and disappearing, her husband in tow.

Before he could say anything, Cath jumped in. "Don't even worry about it, Steve. I'll tell her you had a last minute lead come up or something."

"Actually," Steve replied, really thinking about the idea of having another meal with her family. "Maybe I really have had too much to drink tonight, but I'm starting to think one more meal with your family wouldn't be the worst thing in the world." Truth be told, he was starting to think that lots of meals with them couldn't be all that bad. Holidays, birthdays, regular family gatherings.

Cath was a little surprised to hear him say that, was happy nonetheless. "Then what do you say we get out of here for the night?" She playfully moved her hand along the back of his neck; something she knew he could hardly resist.

"The faster the better," he chuckled, motioning for her to go ahead of him towards the exit. And with that, they officially survived their evening's mission, er, gathering with Catherine's family.


	2. Chapter 2

"Steve, wake up." Catherine nudged the still body beside her. "Steve," she prodded a little harder, earning an annoyed grunt from him. "Steve!" She finally raised her voice slightly. "There's someone at the door, I can hear knocking. Is your mom back from Maui?" She propped herself enough to rest on her elbows. All she got from him was another grunt, though, as he rolled over to face her.

"Huh?" he asked, just starting to open his eyes.

Catherine let out an annoyed sigh. "Doris, Steve. Should she be back from Maui? Because, I think there's someone downstairs." She grinned at herself, thinking about how funny it was that she was actually hoping it was Doris downstairs, even though it meant another awkward encounter between them.

"She's coming back tomorrow." He sighed, "It's probably just Danny." Steve mumbled, finally awake enough to produce a clear though. "And once he knows we're up here, he'll go away." He smiled as he slid his arm over her abdomen. She wasn't having any of it, though. She picked up his arm and put it back on the bed beside him. "Danny doesn't knock, Steve." She said as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"You're going downstairs?" he asked, sitting up slowly. "Is that a good idea?" he asked, as she threw on his shirt from the night before, doing up a few key buttons from her chest to the bottom ones that fell just above her knees.

"Well, you're still naked," she shrugged her shoulders as she approached the door. "So, yeah, I think me going down to see who's at the door is the better idea."

"Okay. Take the bat then." he suggested, laying back down and getting comfortable again. He clearly wasn't very concerned about the situation in front of them.

Catherine rolled her eyes at his cave man like behaviour and slowly peered around the door down the hall, towards the front door. Seeing nothing, she continued down the hall and down the stairs into the living room. She couldn't hear anything, but she was positive she'd heard someone just a few minutes previously. She went into the kitchen, starting to think Steve was right and that she'd see Danny with his head stuck in the refrigerator. The kitchen was as quiet as the living room, though. Just as she was starting to think maybe she had been hearing things, Catherine saw someone standing down by the water. And it definitely was not Danny Williams.

She darted away from the window and back into the living room before she could be spotted. Just to be certain, she pulled back the curtain on the front window to see if there was a vehicle parked or not. Sure enough, there was her mother's rental car. _How in the world... _she thought to herself before quickly heading for the stairs.

"Okay Steve," she said when she entered the bedroom again. "I don't know how, but my mother is here."

He heard her, but he was sure he was still half asleep. "Your mother…" he repeated. "Wait!" he shot up and swung his legs around the side of the bed. "_Your _mother is here? _How did she?!" _He rubbed his eyes, still not fully used to the light yet.

"I have no…" she shook her head slowly, trying to figure it out. "Wait," she looked at Steve to see him looking back at her. Instantly she realized he'd had the same thought.

"Your father." He said, as he stood up and dug into a drawer for a pair of sweat pants and a tee shirt. "Man," he shook his head. "What did I ever do to him?"

"Uh, Steve…" Catherine gave him a look while gesturing to the fact that she was standing there in nothing more than his shirt still.

"Oh, right." He chuckled.

"She must've gotten him to look up your file for your address." Catherine shook her head. "I shouldn't expect anything less." She silently cursed herself for having such a thing for Navy men. Also known as, men her father could use his connections to easily locate without her knowledge.

"What do we think we should do?" he asked, feeling so thrown off his game. This game, which he now realized he knew nothing about.

"Uhm, we could pretend we're not here?" she offered, but instantly realized her mother had already seen both their vehicles outside.

It didn't take long for Steve to get his wits about him and figure things out. "Hang on," he smiled. "What's to hide, Cath?" he smirked as he stood up and walked over to the door. "We're together, right?"

It took a fast wave of internally freaking out before she figured out why Steve said what he did. "Yeah, okay." She agreed, letting out a very relieved sigh as she too walked to the door.

"So I'm thinking, it would look suspicious if you hadn't spent the night, right?" Just as he said that they heard another knock on the front door.

"Right." She agreed with a sharp nod, and then realized she was still in just his dress shirt. "Okay, you go down and get the door; I'll change and come down in a minute." She really didn't give him a choice before closing the bedroom door, with him on the outside of it.

"What? No, I…" He didn't bother continuing when the door closed in front of him. Steve took a deep breath and headed down the stairs towards the door. He opened it to see Mrs. Rollins about to turn around from the door.

"Oh, there you are!" The woman chimed as she stepped in the door. "I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to let me in, Steve." She gave him a little jab on the arm. "Where's Catherine?"

"Uh, come in…" Steve muttered under his breath after she walked past him and started surveying his house.

"Mom," Catherine's voice came from the stairs. "What are you doing here?" she reached the living room and stood with her arms crossed.

"Hi, honey." Her mother hugged her, ignoring Catherine's obviously uneasy stance. "I just thought I'd stop in since I was in the neighbourhood, and I besides, I want to spend more time with my oldest daughter."

"Mom, lunch is-"

"I don't think that's such a crime, wanting to spend more time with my child who I'm lucky to see once a year?" she kept going.

"No, it's not Mom, but we have that meeting to go to, so we can meet you-"

"Oh, c'mon Catherine, give your mother some credit!" she laughed very facetiously. "It wasn't all that long ago that your father and I had _meetings _like that too, you know."

Catherine looked at Steve, who mirrored her look of horror and levels of being uncomfortable never before reached. Certainly, neither of them thought their situation could get any worse. That is, until it did.

"You seem like you probably have a good family, Steve. I bet you spend a lot of time with your mother, don't you?" She asked innocently, having no idea of his past.

Steve didn't even have time to fully process what she had said though, as he was reaching into his pants pocket to answer his ringing phone. He slipped into the kitchen to answer it.

Which meant leaving Catherine alone in the living room with her mother, much to her chagrin. _"Mom," _she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, asking for the patience to handle her mother in this awkward moment. "Don't you think you're getting a little too personal?" she asked, rather shortly.

"Well dear, I'm just trying to get to know the person who has finally tamed my little Cathie, that's all." She smiled oh so sweetly as she brushed a few strands of stray hair off Catherine's face.

"Taming me, Mom?" She was about to launch into a tirade, but thought better of it when she heard Steve ending his phone conversation. "Uh, Mrs. Rollins," he started as he came back into the room. "We actually do have a meeting this morning," he explained.

Shooting him a curious look, Cath stayed quiet to hear the rest of his story as her mother took a stance with her hands on her hips.

"That was my partner," he gestured towards his phone. "We're actually late, so we really do have to go." He walked towards the door and opened it for her.

"Oh, I see." She took the hint, albeit with a slight tone of disbelief in her voice. "Well, I will you see you two at lunch then." She stated, rather than asking. "Don't forget to bring your grandmother's pendant with you, Catherine." She smiled, referring to the jewellery she'd lent her daughter for the wedding. She waved as she stepped through the doorway once again.

Neither Steve nor Catherine said anything for a minute, both of them trying to digest everything that had just happened. Steve was the first to speak. "Wow." He said, shaking his head. "Maybe it's because I didn't talk to mine for twenty years, but I do not remember mothers being that overbearing." He chuckled a little bit.

"Oh, she's been overbearing enough for me and for you, for all the time Doris was in hiding, I can guarantee you that." She finally managed to crack a smile. "So who was that on the phone, anyway?" she asked, knowing there was no case, and no meeting.

"Oh," Steve grinned, pleased at himself. "It really was Danny." He folded his arms. "And, he really did talk about a meeting, so I wasn't lying to her."

After allowing Catherine to process that for a minute, he continued. "He wanted to know if I wanted to meet at Rainbow's for breakfast."

"So just a different kind of meeting." She nodded, understanding his scheme now. "I like it." She added. "Sounds to me like you're learning." She teased.

"Well, I have a good teacher," he shot right back, flashing her a flirty smile.

Catherine grinned and agreed. "So what'd you tell him?" she asked curiously.

"Well," Steve replied, moving closer to her to close the gap between them. "I told him on Friday when I left the office that I had a ton of paperwork to catch up on, so I would probably be MIA all weekend."

"And he believed you?" she asked, skeptically.

"Yeah." He shrugged. "I didn't want him interrupting our weekend together, so used an excuse I knew he'd steer clear of." He smirked.

"Okay," she commented, still unsure. "So why did he call you in the first place?"

"Because he thought I could use a break." Steve answered her.

"Well that was nice of him," she replied. "So what did you say?"

"I said no," Steve placed an arm around the waist of the shorts she'd thrown on when her mother first came in, "because I can think of other things I'd much rather do than listen to Danny go on about how Hawaii can't hold a candle to Jersey when it comes to drive thru food." He smiled, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. He was also thinking about the fact that he was willing to blow off his best friend for spending time with her, and that it probably meant something. But he was trying really hard not to think about that.

Catherine kissed him back. "I see. Well, we have a couple hours until we have to go to lunch with my parents, so…"

"Okay," Steve let go of her to feign being upset. "Can we please not mention your mother right now; it's kind of a buzzkill." He made a face.

"Oh, fine by me." She smiled, reciprocating the disgust face. "Should we not mention her upstairs?" she asked, changing her face to her most flirtatious, rather inviting one.

"Let's give it a try," he laughed, and they practically ran for the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, thank you so much for anyone sticking with me and waiting patiently for more of this story! I really wanted to keep up with it more often, but work has been crazy lately and I'm finding it difficult to find time to write :/ I'm working on that though, so hopefully the wait won't be as long next time. Anyway, here it is, finally. Lunch with the Rollins! Hopefully you like it, and will review :) And even if you don't, I still enjoy the feedback! :)

* * *

Catherine let out a very content sigh as she rolled back over to the empty side of the bed. "Okay sailor," she started, smiling widely.

"Yeah?" he replied, smiling as well while his breath caught back up to him.

"There's no way you didn't work up an appetite for lunch after that." She was also trying to catch her breath.

Steve let out a little smirk as he rolled back over and kissed her. "You weren't so bad yourself." he said into her lips before kissing them again.

"Mmm" she grinned as she thought of their joke from the previous evening. "Well I wouldn't be a very good girlfriend if I couldn't-" Suddenly realizing what she just implied, Catherine stopped herself from finishing the sentence. She frantically searched her head for a way to correct herself, but nothing was coming. "Uh, well I mean, if we-"

"Yeah, I know, if…" Steve was trying to help her out of the foot in mouth position she'd put herself in. But he was also trying to hide the fact that he didn't mind the implication. He couldn't help but wonder whether she really was horrified by it, or if it was just because she thought it horrified him. He was becoming more and more aware of how he felt, but _did she feel the same? _

"Is that your phone?" Catherine asked, hearing a muffled noise coming from the floor. She really, really hoped it was her ticket out of the sudden awkwardness between them.

Steve listened for a second before he recognized the sound. "Yeah, it is." He rolled himself back towards the edge of the bed and reached for his pants still lying on the floor. "McGarrett." He said into the phone as he righted himself back on the bed.

"So, I just need to make sure I have this right," The detective said in lieu of hello when his partner finally answered his phone. "You, who's idea of a relaxing weekend still always seems to involve guns, mad shootouts, and trekking through some area of densely vegetative jungle, are willingly choosing to sit at home and do the mundane task of writing out reports all weekend?"

"Yeah, that is what I said I was going to do, isn't it?" he rolled his eyes and rubbed his face with the hand not holding the phone.

"Yeah, it is, I just know you better than that, that's all." Danny smirked. "So is whatever top secret mission you're on that heaven forbid you tell me, _your partner _about, really going to take all day or can you possibly come back to civilization at some point tonight?"

"It's Danny," Steve whispered to the brunette wrapped in the sheet beside him as he half listened to his partner ramble on.

"Uh, I think I'll have it wrapped up before dinner, why? What's going on?" he asked as Catherine silently motioned that she was going to have a shower.

"I have a little project, I uh, need help with, and it has to be done before tomorrow. So either I pull an all-nighter and am a complete zombie at the office all day tomorrow, or you come help me tonight and save us both from what is sure to be a day from hell tomorrow."

Steve let out a scoff. "I'm not worried about you tomorrow," he started, "if you get too irritable, I'll lock you in the interrogation room." He teased.

"Cute, Steven." The detective replied sarcastically. "Can I count on you or not?" he asked shortly.

Steve took a quick second to think things through before he answered. He wanted to help his friend out, but he also knew that the special leave Catherine had been granted for her sister's wedding ended on Monday. And he definitely was not ready to let her go, since it would be another three months before they saw each other again. Being apart for such long periods of time was something he was starting to be bothered by. And that thought alone made Steve think about where his priorities laid.

"Hey, you still there?" Danny asked. "You're not traipsing through the jungle right now, are you buddy? 'Cause I can't hear you."

"I'm here," Steve replied finally. "But are you going to tell me what this project is, or am I just supposed to show up somewhere?" he asked.

"Just show up at my place whenever you can, okay?" Danny replied shortly.

"Fine, I'll be there." Steve agreed as he looked at his watch. "See you later." He finished as he hung up the phone. Steve dressed and headed downstairs as he waited for Catherine to finish her shower.

"So what did Danny want?" Catherine asked as she came downstairs, drying her hair.

Steve sighed. "He needs my help with something at his place later." He tried to sound casual, not letting on the fact that he truly didn't want to be away from her at all.

"Oh," she replied, trying to hide the fact that she was disappointed. "Sounds like fun." She shrugged.

"What time do we have to be there?" he asked, wanting to change to subject.

"In half an hour," she replied, looking at her watch. "But we should head out soon, so we don't get stuck in traffic."

"Have you ever known me to be late for something?" he asked, feigning offense at her statement.

"No," she agreed. "But have you met my mother? If something happens and we're late…" she trailed off.

"Point taken," Steve conceded. "I'll go hop in the shower and get dressed, you finish whatever you have to do, and we'll meet back here in a few minutes."

Catherine laughed at his sudden game-plan face. "Yes sir, Commander."

He laughed too, although for him it was because he started to realize he was actually looking forward to having lunch with her parents.

However, it wasn't very far into the future that he had himself wondering what he was thinking.

"So, Steve." Mrs. Rollins started as she finished her salad a little while and a few glasses of champagne later. "Being on a SEAL team must have been incredible. Did you really do things like you see in those movies?"

"Mom," Catherine jumped in so Steve didn't have to. "You know he can't really talk about any of his missions," she continued. "_And _why do you want to talk about work, anyway? Don't you get enough of that with dad?" she was really trying to help keep the conversation on a general topic level to avoid either of them having to get personal.

"Oh," her mother clearly faked embarrassment. "You're right, dear." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Steve." She placed her hand on his forearm as an act of her apology. "I'm sure the last thing you want to talk about today is work." She smiled, patting his arm.

Steve nodded politely, thinking about how much he couldn't agree more. He was also wishing he had taken the seat next to her father instead. As much as the idea of this disapproving looks all throughout lunch unnerved Steve, at least he would never make physical contact. He just kept smiling though, thinking the moment could not get any more awkward.

"So you must have family here in Hawaii, then?" she asked as she finally retracted her hand.

"Uhh, well, my…" he stammered.

"His sister lives in LA, so she visits often." Catherine covered for him. "And his mom just relocated back to Oahu."

"Oh, well that's really great." She continued to smile sweetly. "I've always said there isn't a more important relationship in life than a mother and her child."

"So did Stacey and Ed get their flight out okay this morning?" Catherine tried changing the subject as best she could.

"Yes, they did." Her mother confirmed. "I suppose that was another advantage to getting married in a place like Hawaii," she observed. "You aren't that far from some of the most beautiful, exotic, most secluded honeymoon locations in the world."

"Tourist traps." her father spoke up for the first time in a few minutes. "Only part of this place that's worth anything is the base at Pearl." He shook his head.

"Thomas," Mrs. Rollins sent him a stern look. "I know it's hard, but we're trying to enjoy the company of our youngest daughter, remember? You boys can talk shop later." She smiled at Steve who almost spit out the water he'd been drinking at the mention of 'later'.

"Uh, what time is your flight tonight?" Catherine asked, again trying to steer the conversation in a different direction. Not to mention, knowing when her parents were leaving the island so she could have a light at the end of her parental visit tunnel.

"Twenty two hundred hours, and not a moment later." Admiral Rollins replied with a bit of a grunt.

"Don't be such a spoil sport, honey." Mrs. Rollins rolled her eyes at him. "I don't understand why you're so against the idea of living in Hawaii. Personally, I would absolutely love to retire here." She smiled again at her daughter.

"Oh, that's interesting, mom." Catherine tried very hard not to think about what her mother was hinting at. "Because I completely agree with dad, actually." I mean, sure Hawaii's a beautiful place to visit and all, but living here for a long period of time?" she shook her head. "I don't see the appeal." That by far was not an accurate statement, but she would try anything to get away from the idea of her parents being there permanently at that point.

"Well, that's a shame." Mrs. Rollins replied. "I would've thought you of all people would find it appealing, Catherine." She very clearly looked between Catherine and Steve as she finished her sentence.

"Well," Catherine quickly let her eyes dart to Steve before going back to her mother. "I, I mean, I enjoy when I'm here, but I don't think it's for everyone, I guess." She knew she was failing miserably, but couldn't do much about it.

"I suppose that's true." The elder woman agreed. "I know I would have almost everything I could want if I lived here, but that's just me." She shrugged her shoulders, keeping up with her passive aggressive statement about Catherine's lack of efforts to keep in touch with them. Just as she did, the waiter came to clear the last of their plates.

"Uh, you want a shovel, Cath?" Steve teased, quickly leaning over to her ear while her parents were temporarily distracted by the waiter. "I've got one in the back of the truck, and it sound to me like you need to dig yourself out of a hole."

"Oh, very funny." She whisper-yelled back in a slightly annoyed tone. "Thanks for the help, by the way. You know, the best boyfriends are always the ones that let you dig the hole yourself and then stand over it and laugh." She teased right back. He just smirked back, before quickly turning his head back to the table.

"Well," Steve looked at his watch. "I'm sure you two have lots of packing to do, so we should probably get going." What he didn't see though, was Catherine trying to inconspicuously get his attention.

"Oh, we're already packed and ready to go, dear." Mrs. Rollins laughed, completely dismissing his exit strategy. "Remember I'm a Navy wife, Steve. I learned a long time ago to always be prepared for whatever orders may come from the top." She gestured towards her husband.

"Oh, uh, okay." Steve certainly was not expecting that answer. And thus, had no secondary strategy had his first one been compromised.

She seemingly didn't notice his discomfort. "And I think I successfully passed that down to my children, wouldn't you agree Catherine?" She was earnestly asking her daughter. "I suppose it could be argued that I don't see enough of you in your daily life to really judge, but it looks to me like you two have your pecking order well sorted out."

Poor Catherine just stared blankly ahead, between her parents shoulders. She discreetly tapped Steve on the leg to signal that she was looking for some assistance.

"We do okay," he managed to respond. "But I don't think anyone can really give Catherine orders, outside of the Navy anyway." He let out a small chuckle. "You've raised a pretty strong, independent woman, in my opinion." He placed an arm around her shoulders as he finished.

Unsure of how sincere he was being, Catherine was hesitant to say anything. Her mother, on the other hand, didn't miss a beat. "Well now that is very sweet of you to say, Steve." She again gave his arm a little squeeze. "Although sometimes I think maybe she's a little too independent, but I'm sure your mother would say the same thing about you, right?" she gave a grin and a hint of a laugh.

"Yeah." He nodded, wondering how on earth this woman managed to get the conversation back to his family. "I guess I came by it naturally." He shot Catherine a look, silently mouthing the words 'save me' as her mother turned to say something to her husband.

Catherine playfully removed his arm from her shoulders and leaned towards him. She recognized her chance to repay him for the shovel comments. "You're sinking your own ship here, sailor." She sat back straight up with the same devilish grin Steve had come to know so well.

"McGarrett," the Admiral, who had been quiet for the last few minutes, spoke up. "Your father. Where is he located?"

Another question Steve had definitely not seen coming. "Uh, he passed away, sir." He continued his explanation. "It was a few years ago, actually."

"John McGarrett, if my sources are correct?" He asked, although nothing about his tone came across as a question.

"Dad, how did you know about Steve's father?" Catherine asked, as she placed her hand on Steve's leg in silent support. As much as they joked about it, she would never truly hang him out to dry when it came to interacting with her parents.

"I have contacts at Pearl, Catherine. You know that." His tone made it clear that he had no intentions of explaining himself any further.

"So…what, you're doing background checks on my friends?" she asked, tensing up.

Steve was actually a little disheartened to hear her refer to him as a 'friend', but he didn't let himself think too much about it as he felt her hand tighten its grip on his thigh. He wanted to say something to help her, but the truth was he was feeling pretty violated himself.

"Negative." He shook his head. "Not all of them, Catherine. I'm only interested in the ones who have family members with ties to some very dangerous men." He said it like anything but a bombshell being dropped on them.

At this point Steve hardly noticed how tight her grip had gotten on his leg due to the fact that he'd tensed up enough for both of them. "You're talking about Doris' CIA days?" he asked, trying to stay calm. It wasn't exactly working, though. "That was a long time ago, and a part of her life she's trying to put behind her." He continued, while feeling his face get hot with his rising temper.

Catherine was not going to give either of her parents the chance for a rebuttal. "Dad, you had NO right to stick your nose in like that!" She was almost yelling. "Who I choose to spend my time with and what they do is none of your business!"

"Don't over react, Catherine." Her mother piped up. "We're never sure which continent you're on at any given time, let alone who might be in your life." She quietly thanked the waiter who had just brought over their bill. "We felt we had no choice but to find out by our own means."

Catherine shook her head, looking back and forth between her parents before finally settling on her father. "Dad, I guess I should almost expect you to think doing something like this is okay." She cast a look at her mother, knowing her sadness was written all over her face. "But mom." She shook her head again. "For you to let him pull this, that surprises me. I can't believe you'd stoop that low." Without giving either of them a chance to respond, Catherine grabbed Steve's hand with the one that had been gripping his leg and more or less pulled him away.

She heard her mother call her back, but Catherine just kept going. "Hey," Steve tried to get her to stop, but there was no curbing her determination to get as far away from her parents as she possibly could. "Hey, Cath, whoa!" he was finally able to get her to stop, only because they were at his truck and couldn't go any further without the keys which remained in his pocket. "Listen, if you want me to tell Danny I can't help him, I can. I mean, that…" he trailed off, motioning to the restaurant in front of them. "Well, you didn't deserve that, and-"

"No one deserves that, and especially not you. I'm really sorry you had to sit through that." said gave him an empathetic look before continuing. "And you don't have to cancel your plans with Danny for me, it's fine." She gave him a little smile before impatiently putting her hands on her hips. "Now can you please unlock the door? I wouldn't put it past my mother to run out here and make a big scene, so I'd really like to get out of here."

"Yeah," Steve quickly unlocked the doors and climbed in. "That makes two of us."

Hardly a word was spoken between them as they drove back to Steve's house. "You know," Steve started laughing a little as they pulled into his drive way. "I just realized something."

"What's that?" Catherine asked as they got out and headed for the door.

"Maybe the reason this works," he gestured to the two of them and then paused. Not only because he was unlocking the door but also because he wanted a bit of a dramatic build up to his epiphany.

"Wait," Catherine put her hand on his chest as they walked through the door. "If you're going to say is because we both have mommy issues, I may have to dramatically storm out of here, too." She smiled, trying to lighten their situation. She was definitely still angry with her parents, but she also recognized that Steve was on to something with the mommy issues idea. And that would cause both of them to look at their reasons for being.. whatever they were to each other. And she didn't think she was quite ready for that serious of a conversation. So she did what they both knew best; made light of it.

"Really, you would do that?" he asked, scratching his head a little.

"Well," she replied without missing a beat. "I did it once, I could do it again."

"Oh, yes you did." He agreed, although he wasn't completely thinking about the same 'it' she was.

"Steve," she knew by the look in his eyes that she needed to bring him back to earth. "You're going to Danny's, remember?"

Steve quickly looked at his watch and then back at Catherine. "Yeah, that's true." He agreed. "But," he reached his arms around her waist and intertwined his fingers so they held her in a tight hold against him. "I didn't say exactly what time I'd be there, and besides…I've been thinking about this whole pecking order thing." He smirked as he finished his sentence.

"Okay, I know where you are going with this, Steve, and I have to say, I have a problem." She did her best to give him a serious look, to really make it believable.

"Oh?" he asked very curiously, letting go of his hold around her.

Catherine beamed. It was exactly what she had hoped he would do. Since he'd let go, she was able to casually make her way towards the stairs. "Yeah. You know all this talk about where orders come from and stuff?"

"Yeah…" Steve listened intently, although he already had an idea what she was going to say next.

"Well I think I should be on top." She gave him a very alluring look and started up the stairs.

"Well," he chuckled, heading towards the stairs himself. "I think I can be man enough to accept that." He sped up, causing Catherine to let out an excited squeal as they both disappeared into the bedroom.

* * *

A/N: I truly do not know why my go-to chapter ending scene is the two of them about to 'get right' as Danny would say. It just keeps happening! ...But as long as no one minds... lol ;)


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey." Steve entered Danny's apartment a few hours later.

"Hey." Danny greeted simply. "You know," the detective said as he turned around and picked up a paint brush and small paint can, "for someone who just discovered his mother has been lying to him for the last twenty years, you sure are quick to do it yourself." Danny held out the brush and can to his partner. "Because, I know you did not spend the entire weekend up until now buried under paperwork."

"Uh, sure Danny, I'll help you repaint your apartment, thanks for asking." He replied sarcastically as he took the brush and can. He changed the subject as he had no intention of revealing his true whereabouts for the weekend. "Why are you repainting, anyway?" he asked.

"It's Grace's room, actually." He informed Steve. "She's discovered a love for decorating, thanks to Rachel's parents who let her watch the home and garden channel all week while she was visiting them. So I am surprising her with a newly painted room."

"Ah, and she's coming home tomorrow, so you have to finish it by tomorrow." Steve nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, by eight am tomorrow, to be exact."

"Okay." Steve sighed. "So what you're saying is, it's going to be a long night."

"I suppose it will be." Danny agreed. "But you know, had you let me help you with all those reports you supposedly spent the last day and a half writing, we may have been able to get this all done in time for a long board or two tonight." He spoke in the most mocking tone possible, knowing full well that Steve knew his jig was up.

"Okay," Steve set the paint can down on the table. "For a guy who clearly is in desperate need of help, I suggest maybe _not _pissing off the only person who is willing to help you."

"Oh, that's not true." Danny smirked. "I'm sure Chin would come to help, if he knew you were too wrapped up in your own little world to lend a hand."

"Fine." Steve said with a clearly annoyed tone. "If I tell you what I was doing, will you leave it alone, once and for all?"

"Happily." He agreed, nodding.

Steve closed his eyes for a second and then reopened them before finally speaking. "I was with Catherine, okay? She needed a favour, and so I helped her out. That's it," he fibbed, feeling like he could probably still save himself from his partner's ribbing if he didn't elaborate.

"Well that's a change of pace for you guys, huh?" Danny smiled. "She needed a favour, what kind of favour?"

Steve rolled his eyes and ran his free hand over his face. "Did we not just agree that you'd leave it alone, Danny? I mean, we can stand here all night talking about it, or we can paint. So can we just paint, please?"

The look on Danny's face was a combination of curiosity, and amusement. "Wait a second," he put his brush and can down and darted into the kitchen. A few seconds later he came back into the living room clutching a newspaper. "I don't usually read the wedding announcements, but this one caught my eye because of the name." He motioned at the page he had the paper folded open to.

Steve put his head down, realizing he had no hope of keeping his secret anymore.

Danny gave a little chuckle as he looked down at the picture he was talking about. "You never told me Catherine had a sister." He smirked, and then threw the paper onto the couch. "So what, you spent the weekend being her arm candy amongst all the wedding festivities?" he laughed a little more. "Is that it?"

"Yah, okay? Cath was a bridesmaid, so she needed a date. We went to the rehearsal dinner Friday night, then the wedding Saturday, and…" he hesitated before spilling the beans about the brunch with her parents, but decided that he was already so deep, he might as well finish off with the last highlight of the weekend. "And we had brunch with her parents this afternoon, before I came here to be enslaved by you." He sighed. "There, now you know everything, so can you just give it up already?"

"Wait, _you _had brunch with Catherine's parents?" Danny was almost unable to keep his laughter in. "C'mon, you've already given that part up to me, you might as well give me some details, babe."

By the time Danny had finished speaking; Steve had already grabbed the can of paint once again. "We have painting to do." He stated very clearly before walking with conviction towards the bedroom.

"I'll get it out of you eventually." Danny smirked as he followed his partner down the hall towards his daughter's room.

Four hours and two paint fights later, the two men finally emerged from the freshly painted room. "Okay, I may owe you a beer," Danny said as they walked through the living room. "But I think you still owe me a story about brunch." Danny continued toward the kitchen, not realizing his partner wasn't behind him.

"Uh, I'm gonna pass on the beer for now because I have," he looked at his paint splattered watch. "T minus seven hours before Catherine has to be back on base." He headed for the door and fished his keys out of his shorts pocket as Danny came back into the living room. "And for the record, I owe you nothing, except maybe a new pair of shoes." He smirked and looked down at his partner's shoes which were almost completely covered in French lilac paint.

"Thanks, but uh, you can save your money for some new cargo pants or something." He too smirked, referring to Steve's paint splattered pants.

Steve laughed as he opened the door. "It will be fun telling Chin and Kono about this at work tomorrow."

"Fun? Yeah, maybe for you, the man who can't stand to lose at anything, even a harmless paint fight." He retorted. "Seriously though," Danny smiled, giving his partner a pat on the back. "Thank you for helping me. I'm sure you would've preferred to spend these hours with Catherine, seeing as you won't see her for a while after tonight."

"Nah, don't mention it," Steve shrugged, acknowledging the fact that as much as they made a sport out of pecking at each other, he and Danny would always have each other's backs when they needed it. "But you're right," he finished. "The longer I'm here, the less time I have for, you know. So.."

"Get outta here," Danny motioned with his hands, as Steve smiled and headed out the door.

When he walked into his house fifteen minutes later, he was quite overwhelmed with the smell he was met with. "Cath?" he called out as he set his keys and phone down on the little table near the door.

"In here," she called from the kitchen.

"What's all this?" Steve asked as he walked in to the room to see her standing at the stove stirring something. He looked around and saw a bunch of other dishes scattered around, implying she had been busy in the kitchen for quite some time.

"Well I figured you'd probably be hungry after- "She stopped when she looked at him. "Painting?" she said with a questioning tone, and with a bit of a chuckle.

Steve looked at himself and couldn't help but laugh a little too. "Yeah," he gave her a quick kiss. "Danny needed help painting Grace's room. She comes back from visiting Rachel's parents tomorrow, and he wanted to surprise her with a freshly painted room." He explained.

"Aw, that's very sweet of him." She smiled. "You probably want to go change, though."

"Yeah, I'm going to go right now." He smiled and gave her another quick kiss. "You know, if you weren't so busy with all this I'd say come join me, but it'd be a shame to see our dinner be burnt, I guess." He smiled.

"Yeah, and I totally would go for that, except, you know this sauce in the pot needs to be watched."

"Well, all this all looks amazing, Cath." He praised. "But you shouldn't have to cook a big meal like this right before you head out."

"Um, well I'm not doing it all by myself, actually." She began explaining.

"Not by yourself?" he asked, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I was just planning on something small and then-"

She was cut off, though. "Got the rolls and I picked up a pie for dessert." Doris chimed as she entered the kitchen behind her son. "Steve?" she laughed as she looked him up and down. "What on earth…?"

He took a second to digest what had just happened. "Um, hi mom." He said as he turned around. "What are you uh, doing here?" he asked, rubbing his forehead.

"The better question is, did Danno's daughter like her new room colour?" she asked, completely deflecting his question.

"Uh, what?" he asked, completely thrown off guard by her very specific questioning.

"Catherine said you were helping him with something, and it's pretty clear by the fact that you're covered in paint, and purple paint at that, that you were painting a little girls room." She said it as if it was just a simple fact that anyone could conclude in three seconds.

"Uh, yeah. We painted Grace's room." He confirmed. "She comes home tomorrow; he's planning on surprising her." He rubbed his forehead for few seconds. "Seriously though mom, why, uh, what brings you by?"

"Oh, I just came by earlier to see if you wanted to go for a run." She moved past them to set the grocery bags down on the counter. "And when Catherine was so sweet to invite me to stay for dinner, the least I could do was pitch in." she opened the cupboards to grab some plates. "I hope that's okay?" she asked, reaching for three.

"Uh…" he gave Catherine a look, begging for an explanation. She met him with a desperate look of her own. "Yeah, sure mom." He looked past her and smiled to his mother.

"Good," she smiled, going past them to the dining room with the plates. "Because it's almost ready, and it smells delicious. So you better go change, son." As soon as she disappeared from view, Steve wasted no time asking the questions.

"Um, okay." He somewhat whispered, leaning in towards where Catherine stood. "How exactly did this happen?"

"Steve," Catherine too was using a lowered voice. "You know how persuasive your mother can be, and I'm, I mean, I…" she stammered. "How was I supposed to…" she trailed off, and then sighed. "I guess it's…" she trailed off once more, which prompted Steve to chuckle a little.

"Mommy issues?" he finished for her, grinning all the while.

She knew he was right, but still didn't know if she wanted to admit it. "Something like that." She somewhat conceded as she scratched her head for a second before turning back to her sauce pan. "I guess we're even, then?" she asked, half joking.

Steve just stood there for a second trying to figure out how he kept finding himself in these situations. It was only a few seconds before his mother popped back into the room. "I mean it, Steve. Catherine has worked hard to make this delicious meal, and there's no way you're sitting down to dinner with us dressed like that." She shook her head as she grabbed some more things for the table. "And if I remember correctly, the cutlery's in the drawer beside the fridge." She motioned for him to grab what they needed as she headed back into the dining room.

Steve still didn't know what had transpired, but he knew one thing for sure. This already very long day was still very far from being over.


	5. Chapter 5

"Mom, Mom!" Steve was trying to get a word in the dinner conversation, but so far it wasn't going well for him. He knew he could be happy that pleasant, comfortable conversation was flowing easily between his mother and Catherine, but that was exactly why he was worried. It was just like his mother to lull someone into feeling comfortable, and then bam! Go in for the kill. Otherwise known as, diving head first into the personal questions.

"Face it Steve, I've always known it was you who dug up the neighbour's flower beds when you were five. Being a spy didn't completely stop when I became a mother you know." She gave him a large smirk as she finished off her plate too.

"Yeah." He non challantly nodded finishing his last bite. "You got me." He stood up to clear their plates from the table.

"Oh I can do that," Doris offered. "You had a busy day, I'm sure you're ready to just kick back and relax with your… uh, without your mother in your hair." She smiled as she grabbed a couple dishes and headed for the kitchen.

Steve and Catherine exchanged a quick glance as his mother disappeared from the room. "What was that?" she asked, as quietly and subtly as possible.

"That," Steve sighed, "was my mother sharpening the knife." They both let out a little laughter. "Now let's get out of here before she tries to invite you out for a 'girl's night' or something, and I lose the last few hours I have with you until next month."

Catherine rolled her eyes and shook her head a little. "She's not _that _bad, Steve."

"Oh, really?" he disagreed as they sat down in the living room.

They heard the phone ring, and then Doris shout from the kitchen that she was getting it. "Yeah." Catherine said. "She knows I'm meeting my parents at the airport to say goodbye, so she wouldn't-"

"Wait," he interrupted. "She knows you're meeting your parents later?" he shook his head.

"Yeah, why?" she asked, confused. "I figured I was being proactive; telling her I was busy before she had the chance to ask me to do something. I don't see the big deal?"

"Oh, Cath." He put his head in his hands as Doris entered the living room.

"Great news!" she cheered. "That was Nora on the phone just now. She invited us for a night cap before they leave for the mainland tonight." She beamed happily at the couple sitting on the couch.

"What…" Steve wasn't even sure what to say, and judging by the fact that her jaw was close to the floor, he knew Cath wouldn't be much help either.

"We're meeting her and your father at the Hilton at eight o'clock, Catherine. So I'm just going to finish up in the kitchen and head home to freshen up." She smiled and disappeared back into the kitchen once again.

The couple sat in silence for a few seconds, the disbelief still clear on both their faces. "Nora?" Catherine finally voiced. "How in the world did _your _mother become on a first name basis with _my _mother?" she was still so shocked and confused by the situation.

Steve on the other hand, was starting to adapt. "I have no idea. But I did try to tell you.."

She gave him a playful jab in the side. "Okay, save your 'I told you so' for later, what are we going to do about this?"

Steve smirked, looked at his watch and stood up. "Well, it's after seven now, and you've been slaving away in the kitchen with Doris all day, so I'd say you better get cleaned up."

"You can't be serious." she replied, with a sense of fear in her voice. "We're actually going to do this?" She was sure he had to be joking. "This is how we're spending the last of my leave?"

"You mean, going to have a drink with your parents _and _my mother? Yeah, I think we are." He shrugged his shoulders and smirked. "What was that you were saying before, about Doris not being _that _bad?"

Catherine couldn't help but let out a little laugh as she stood up beside him. "Okay, she is that bad." She admitted. "Happy now?" she asked sarcastically as she moved past him and headed for the stairs. "I'm going to have a shower." She added.

"Okay." Said Steve. "Do you want any company?" he asked, half joking, half serious.

Cath stopped on the landing, shook her head at him with a smile and an 'I can't believe you just said that' look on her face and then kept going.

"It was worth a shot¸ right?" He hollered after her as he stood up.

"What was worth a shot, honey?" Doris asked as she re-entered the living room.

"Nothing," Steve muttered, thankful his mother hadn't entered the room a few seconds earlier than she did.

"Oh. Okay then." She smiled. "Well the cleanup is all done in the kitchen, so I'm going to head home to change. Do you want to carpool to the hotel? Because I can just meet you here, or-"

"Mom." Steve interrupted.

It didn't stop Doris, though. "If you two want your privacy since Catherine is leaving tonight, then I can take my car, I-"

"Mom!" Steve interrupted again, but this time with a tone his mother would listen to. "Privacy?"

"Yeah, I know she ships out tomorrow, so I thought-"

"I don't think you understand the meaning of the word, Mom." He was trying hard not to raise his voice at her.

"What.." she was clearly taken aback by his statement.

"Because," he carried on, "if you did, you wouldn't have invited yourself to dinner tonight, on our last night together, and you _most _certainly would _not _have arranged for us all to meet with Catherine's parents later."

"Well, I didn't-" Doris started.

"I'm not finished." Steve didn't have a problem interrupting her. And he used the same tone as when he finally got her attention at the beginning of their conversation. "You know, you joke about being a spy even after having kids, but you're really not good at reading between the lines where you should be, Mom." He shook his head. "I don't understand why you would think that you shouldn't ask us, or at least Catherine anyway, if it was okay to arrange this little meeting."

"Steve," Doris tried her hand at interrupting again but Steve wasn't having any of it.

"No, I don't want to hear it." He put his hand out in front of himself as if to say 'stop'. "I get that you feel the need to make up for all the family occasions you missed when you faked your death twenty years ago. Maybe that's why you feel it's okay to force yourself into dinners here, and thinking up ideas like meeting Catherine's parents. But if you don't have the respect for her, and for me for that matter, to ask if we mind you butting in, then I think our relationship is set further back than I realized."

"Steven," She shot back in the same tone he'd just used with her. There was no secret where he got that kind of conviction from. "First of all," She took a stance in front of him with her arms crossed. "Nora called while you were at Danny's earlier. Catherine was elbow deep in meat juices, so I answered the phone. She was calling to invite you two for that night cap, and simply would not take no for answer when I insisted it wasn't my place to tag along."

Steve stood there silently, taking the information in.

"And as for dinner tonight, I distinctly recall me asking when you came in if it was okay that I stayed, and you said yes. So, if it wasn't okay, why did you lie to me, Steve?" Doris finished, and put her hands on her hips.

"Wow, Mom." He almost couldn't believe what he was hearing, his mother preaching to him about lying. The same mother who acted out the biggest, most hurtful lie he could have fathomed as a teenager. "I guess I learned it from you. Aren't you proud?" he asked, sarcastically.

Doris was quick to respond. "Steven John McGarrett," she stared him down. "Could you just for a minute, get past that stuff, and think that maybe I'm just trying to help the two of you see what you're both too blind and maybe naïve to see for yourself? And that Catherine's parents are trying to do the same thing for their daughter?"

"And what's that, Mom?" Steve snapped right back. "That we both have issues with our parents? 'Cause I think her and I are both well aware, thanks."

Doris sighed. "I'm talking about the fact that you two are in denial about being in love."

"Well, we're not, I mean, what?" Steve stammered, taken completely off guard by her observation. He didn't want to give her the opportunity to say anything else though. "Mom, why would you say something like that? I mean, Cath and I, we.." he sighed. "We don't have a, well, we're just-"

"You are totally and completely head over heels in love with her, and you're just too stubborn to admit it." She smirked at her son, continuing. "And too stubborn to do anything about it, which is exactly where Nora and Thomas, and I come in, I suppose."

"Whoa," Steve put his hand out. "I don't need you, of all people, to tell me how to have a relationship. Of any nature, with anyone."

"Steve," she said, using her keen observation skills to notice the body moving, and then stop at the top of the stairs behind his back. "All I want, is for you to be happy, and healthy. And I know that she makes you happy. And I'm sure Thomas and Nora only want the same thing for Catherine, honey. So why not be proud of that?"

He sighed. "I am proud of us, and I am happy mom. I'm happier than I ever have been. And it's no coincidence that I've been spending more time with Catherine these last few years. But why do we have to put labels on that? I don't think either of us needs it." He shook his head.

"Do you know that for certain?" Doris probed. "Have you two talked about that stuff?" She asked, knowing she'd finally broken down his wall.

He didn't answer, which they both knew was all the answer she needed. Doris looked at her watch and then put her hands through her hair. "Son, with what you do, and with what she does, you just don't know when the day will come when you won't be _able_ to tell each other how you really feel." She put her hand on his shoulder, and gave him a reassuring smile. She noticed over his shoulder, that she wasn't the only one smiling.

Steve wasn't sure what to say because he was starting to realize that more and more of him agreed with her. He gave her a hug, being thankful for her insightful words, even if he couldn't express it to her in words of his own.

"So I'll meet you guys at the Hilton, then?" she smiled as they parted. Doris moved towards the door, making sure her timing was perfect so that Steve would have to turn around as well.

"Yeah." He nodded in agreement, just before noticing Catherine standing at the bottom of the stairs.

As she opened the door, Doris smiled at them both. "I'll tell Nora and Thomas the traffic was really bad and you two just might be late." She sent a wink between them and was gone.

When the door closed, Catherine slowly started walking over to where Steve was standing.

"Uh, how much of that did you hear?" He asked, although it wasn't because he hoped she _hadn't_ heard it all. It was actually the opposite. Steve was relieved that she had heard at least part of their conversation. It made him realize that his mother was right, and that he was in fact too stubborn to open himself up to Catherine. But now, it seemed he didn't have to worry about that.

"Enough to realize that we've been avoiding this conversation for stupid reasons," she chuckled a little as she stopped in front of him.

Steve wasn't sure what to say, because as much as he was relieved his mother had forced them to put their feelings out in the open, he still had insecurities that told him Catherine wouldn't feel exactly the same way he did.

"Steve?" she asked, when she saw the completely glossed over look on his face. "Are you okay?" she asked, placing her hand on his forearm.

Her touch brought him back to their situation, and to the peace of mind he didn't realize he'd been missing, until then. He smiled at her, and then laughed a little also. "Yeah." He finally replied. "I'm just thinking."

"Thinking?" Her face got slightly more serious for a moment, hoping he was thinking the same thing she was. She took a deep breath and did what she had to do to find out. "Thinking about what?"

He sighed a very content sigh, and smiled again. "I'm thinking about how much I love you, and how there's only one thing I want to do with you before you leave tomorrow."

Catherine smirked, deciding to make a joke. "And I'm really hoping that it has nothing to do with my parents.."

Steve laughed, pulling her into an embrace. "That's an understatement if I've ever heard one."

"They're expecting us though…" she trailed off, unsure of what to do.

"No problem," Steve shook his head. "I'll call my mom and tell her to tell yours that we are stuck in such a gridlock, that we don't think we'll make it before they their plane takes off. As sad as that thought is," he frowned, and smirked a little afterwards.

Catherine grinned, tightening her grip on the man she loved. "My parents will just have to deal with it, and I'll see them in six months for Thanksgiving anyway."

"That soon?" Steve teased, earning a small jab from him.

"You know, I think we just worked together, to go _against _our parents." She observed, with a smile.

"Yeah, I think we did too." He agreed, beginning to place small kisses all around her face. "And uh, I can think of another way we can unite, for one common goal…" he trailed off, knowing Catherine would think the same thing as they locked lips and headed for stairs.


End file.
